Urban motor vehicle for towing a delivery trailer

ABSTRACT

An urban delivery motor vehicle, provided with a front towing unit having a vertical front-rear symmetry tiable to a towed unit, and comprising a central part forming a driver-passenger cockpit substantially symmetrical about a substantially vertical axis and having a rear part provided with a space located below the cockpit and opened on its sides and on its rear part; two front wheels and at least one rear wheel located within the space and coplanar with the vertical front-rear symmetry of the towing unit, and an attachment located close to the vertical axis for receiving a complementary attachment of the towed unit to link it thereto.

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle comprising a deliverytrailer.

The invention thus relates to the very general problem of delivery bymotor vehicle, particularly in towns, of objects of various volume andweight (packets, parcels, mail) sent to diverse purchasers or consumers.

The problem of delivery in towns is to a great extent linked with thisdiversity of shape and weight of the objects to be delivered, as well,of course, as with the traffic, parking and loading of the deliveryvehicles.

Various solutions have been proposed for the delivery vehicles which aregenerally compromises between two contractictory necessities, namelythat linked with the transport of voluminous objects which requires acumbersome vehicle and that linked with the facility of circulation,particularly in a town, which requires vehicles which are all the easierto handle as their dimensions are more reduced.

The present invention has for its object a novel type of motor vehicleensuring transport of voluminous parcels and which is at the same timeparticularly easy to handle and easy to load.

The present invention thus has for its object a motor vehicle comprisinga front towing unit provided with a driver space, of which at least therear part is substantially of revolution and tiable to a towed unit,characterized in that the lower rear part of this driver space comprisesa space communicating freely with the outside, in which are housed, onthe one hand, at least one rear wheel, coplanar with the verticalfront/rear symmetry plane of the vehicle and, on the other hand, anarticulated coupling member on the towed unit, located close to thesubstantially vertical axis of the driver space.

Such an arrangement thus makes it possible to have available a vehiclecomprising a trailer of minimum length, since the point of coupling isdisplaced as near as possible to, and below, the driver space of thetowing unit of the vehicle and the front part of the trailer, or towedunit, may be located near the rear part of the driver space.

On the other hand, the location of the point of coupling, the shape ofthe driver space and the median position of the rear wheel or wheelsmake it possible to orient the towing unit of the vehicle with respectto its trailer with a small angle, this giving the vehicle a minimumradius of lock.

Moreover, in a preferred embodiment, where the drawbar of the trailer isfixed beneath the towing unit of the vehicle, production of trailerswhose loading platform is located at a low level with respect to theground, which facilitates the loading operation, is rendered easier.

The present invention also makes it possible to apply the forcetransmitted by the drawbar of the trailer near the axis of the driverspace, which improves the stability of the vehicle and adherencethereof.

Finally, by reason on the one hand of the shape substantially ofrevolution of the rear part of the driver space, and of the coplanarposition of the rear wheel or wheels with the vertical front/rearsymmetry plane of the vehicle, it is possible, by providing a notch inthe lower rear part of the doors, to slide the latter rearwardly inorder to pass them from a position of closure to a position of opening.Such an arrangement makes it possible considerably to increase thefacility of use of the vehicle, all the more so as the presentarrangement may be employed on doors of vehicles of which the lower partdescends sufficiently low to promote maximum access thereof.

In a particularly interesting variant of the present invention, thenotch provided in the lower rear part of the doors is such that itmerges with the lower rear wall of the driver space, adjacent the spacecommunicating freely with the outside.

Two embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafterby way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are views respectively in elevation and in plan of anembodiment of the invention, shown schematically.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views respectively in elevation and in plan of avariant embodiment of the invention, shown schematically.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the towing unit of the vehicle according to theinvention is essentially constituted by its central part forming adriver space 3 and comprises a drive unit 1 and two front drive wheels2. The driver space 3 is of shape substantially of revolution, heresubstantially spherical, about a substantially vertical axis 5 and ispierced with a passage 4 giving access to the interior of the driverspace 3.

The lower rear part of the driver space 3 leaves a space 6 freelycommunicating with the outside. In this space is housed, on the onehand, a rear wheel 7, coplanar with the vertical front/rear symmetryplane of the vehicle, and, on the other hand, an articulated couplingmember 8 of a towed unit, or trailer 9, located on axis 5 and disposedbeneath the driver space 3.

In this embodiment, the trailer 9 has two rear wheels 10 and is aslow-slung as possible, thanks to a coupling drawbar 11.

The coupling drawbar is constituted by two arms 11a fixed on each of thelateral faces of the trailer 9, which converge on each side of the wheel7 towards the central articulated coupling member 8.

The front part 12 of the trailer 9 is of circular shape, with itsconcavity oriented towards the interior of the trailer, with the resultthat the towing unit of the vehicle and the trailer 9 may be articulatedangularly with a minimum radius of lock. The median position of the rearwheel 7 of the towing unit of the vehicle makes it possible to obtainangles, between the longitudinal axis of the trailer and thelongitudinal axis of the towing unit of the vehicle, of relativelyreduced value.

FIGS. 3 and 4 schematically represent a variant of an embodiment of theinvention. In these Figures, the same reference numerals as those usedin FIGS. 1 and 2 are conserved for like elements, with index ' addedthereto. In these Figures, it will be noted that, for technical reasons,the articulated coupling member 8 is located, no longer exactly on axis5', but close to it. Consequently, there is no longer exactconcentricity of the circular movements of the driver space and thetrailer, but only virtual concentricity, which nonetheless makes itpossible to obtain a minimum angle between the longitudinal axis of thetowing unit of the vehicle and that of the trailer, sufficient inpractice to give the assembly a very small radius of lock.

Although a front face of the trailer has been shown of circular shape,of the same radius as the spherical part of the driver space, a planefront face may in practice be had without losing the above advantages.

In this example, two rear wheels 7 have been provided, for reasons oftransmission of load to the ground, but these wheels are nonethelessclose to the median vertical front/rear symmetry plane of the vehicle.

Finally, it is seen that doors 13' and windows 14' also have the samespherical shape as that of the rest of the driver space, so as to pivotabout axis 5' of the driver space in order to allow opening and closurethereof without modifying the hold of the vehicle on the ground. Themedian position of the rear wheels 7' and the notched lower part 15' ofthe doors allow free rotation of the latter towards the rear of thevehicle, during opening thereof.

It will be observed that the towing unit of the vehicle may possibly beused alone without being coupled to a trailer.

We claim:
 1. An urban delivery motor vehicle, including:a front towingunit tiable to a towed unit, said towing unit having a verticalfront-rear symmetry and comprising: a) a central part forming a driverpassenger cockpit substantially symmetrical about a substantiallyvertical axis, said cockpit having a rear part provided with spacemeans, including a space located below said cockpit and opened on itssides and on the rear part of said cockpit; b) two front wheels and atleast one rear wheel, said rear wheel being coplanar with the verticalfront-rear symmetry of said towing unit, said at least one rear wheelbeing located within said space; and c) an attachment device locatedclose to said vertical axis, concepted to receive a complementaryattachment device of said towed unit to link it to said towing unit. 2.The urban delivery motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein saidattachment device is located below said cockpit.
 3. The urban deliverymotor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said attachment device islocated above said at least one rear wheel.
 4. An urban delivery system,having an autonomous front towing unit, including:a central part forminga driver-passenger cockpit; a forwardly located drive unit and two frontdrive wheels; said driver cockpit having a shape substantiallyspherical, about a substantially vertical axis located at the center ofgravity of the towing unit; the rear portion of said driver cockpitbeing specifically concepted so as to provide an exterior housing havingan accessible space; said exterior housing space including a housing fora rear wheel assembly of said towing unit, said rear wheel assemblybeing centrally located and coplanar with the vertical front and rearsymmetry of the vehicle, and an articulated attachment point locatedclose to said substantially vertical axis of said cockpit; and anautonomous wheeled rear towed unit having a drawbar for attachment tosaid articulated attachment point of the towing unit; said towed unitincorporating a storage and transportation compartment of said system;said urban delivery system, by virtue of the location of said attachmentpoint forwardly and substantially at said vertical axis of the towingunit, thereby permitting construction of said towing unit with auniquely minimum length; and said forward location of said attachmentpoint and said exterior space, allowing uninhibited lateral movement ofsaid drawbar at the rear of said driver cockpit, whereby said system maybe operated within a uniquely small turning radius.
 5. The urbandelivery system as set forth in claim 4, wherein said attachment pointis located below said driver cockpit.
 6. The urban delivery system asset forth in claim 5, including an access trap located in said cockpitin the rear thereof at the side of the driver above said attachmentpoint to facilitate accessibility of said attachment point fordetachment of said towed vehicle by the driver.
 7. The urban deliverysystem as set forth in claim 6, wherein said towed unit includes meansoperable from the driver area which lowers so as to contact the groundfor support of said drawbar of the towed unit permitting the towed unitto be maintained in its upright, horizontal or towed position prior tothe driver effecting the detachment of said towed unit.
 8. The urbandelivery system as set forth in claim 4, wherein said attachment pointis located above said rear wheel assembly within said exterior housingspace to the rear of said cockpit and physically close to the seateddriver.
 9. The urban delivery system as set forth in claim 8, includingan access trap located in said cockpit in the rear thereof at the sideof the driver above said attachment point to facilitate accessibility ofsaid attachment point for detachment of said towed vehicle by thedriver.
 10. The urban delivery system as set forth in claim 9, whereinsaid towed unit includes means operable from the driver area whichlowers so as to contact the ground for support of said drawbar of thetowed unit permitting the towed unit to be maintained in its upright,horizontal or towed position prior to the driver effecting thedetachment of said towed unit. thereof at the side of the driver abovesaid attachment point to facilitate accessibility of said attachmentpoint for detachment of said towed vehicle by the driver.
 11. The urbandelivery system as set forth in claim 4, including an access traplocated in said cockpit in the rear.
 12. The urban delivery system asset forth in claim 11, wherein said towed unit includes means operablefrom the driver area which lowers so as to contact the ground forsupport of said drawbar of the towed unit permitting the towed unit tobe maintained in its upright, horizontal or towed position prior to thedriver effecting the detachment of said towed unit.
 13. A motor vehicle,comprising:a front towing unit provided with a driver area (3, 3'), atleast a rear part of said driver area being spherically-shaped andtiable to a towed unit (9, 9'); a lower rear part of said driver areacomprising a portion having means providing access thereto from theoutside, at least one rear wheel (7, 7') coplanar with the verticalfront/rear symmetry plane of the vehicle housed within said portion; andan articulated coupling member (8, 8') on said towed unit (9, 9')located close to a substantially vertical axis (5, 5') of the driverarea (3, 3') also housed within said portion; said towing unitcomprising at least one door (13, 13') mounted to slide between aposition of closure and a position of opening located to the rear of theposition of closure; and the lower rear part of the door (13, 13') beingprovided with a notch over a height extending from the base of thedriver area (3, 3') up to at lest the height of the articulated couplingmember (8, 8'), said latch being located in line with a rear face of thedriver area adjacent to the portion (6, 6') provided to the rear of thetowing unit of the vehicle and communicating with the outside when saiddoor (13, 13') is closed.
 14. The motor vehicle according to claim 13,wherein said articulated coupling member (8, 8') is disposed betweensaid substantially vertical axis (5, 5') and a vertical line passingthrough the axis of rotation of the rear wheel (7, 7').
 15. The motorvehicle according to claim 13, wherein a lower part of said door (13,13') is located at a level at least as low as that of a straight linejoining the axis of the hubs of the front (2, 2') and rear (7,7') wheelsof said towing unit.